Book + Film Club October: Fear, Feminism, and Rosemary's Baby

Sidewalk’s Book + Film Club unites movie and book lovers for a monthly film screening. Each session is $35 and the includes book, film screening, and discussion. Select the $15 option for access to the film screening and post film discussion. Dates, descriptions, and registration deadlines below.

Registration Deadline to have books mailed: Friday, October 2nd. Books will be mailed within 72 hours of this date.

Registration Deadline to have books picked up: Monday, October 19th. Books can be picked up from our Box Office during our regular operating hours Thursday & Friday from 2pm til Close and on Saturday & Sunday from 10:30am until close. You will receive an email when your book is ready to be picked up.

Book: Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) by Eleanor Johnson

In May of 2022, Columbia University’s Dr. Eleanor Johnson watched along with her students as the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. At the same time, her class was studying the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby and Johnson had a sudden epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and offer a light through the darkness and an outlet to scream.

With a voice as persuasive as it is insightful, Johnson reveals how classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. Scream with Me weaves these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, revealing that true horror often lies not in the supernatural, but in the familiar confines of the home, exposing the deep-seated fears and realities of women’s lives.

While on the one hand a joyful celebration of seminal and beloved horror films, Scream with Me is also an unflinching and timely recognition of the power of this genre to shape and reflect cultural dialogues about gender and power.

Film: Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Dir Roman Polanski

A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, NYC, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar elderly neighbors.